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The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is an Intelligent Transportation System, which in its turn is an application of the Internet of Things. The IoV is a network of connected vehicles that sends/receives messages. However, the moving nature of the vehicles in IoV networks raises a dynamic topology issue. Therefore, establishing effective and dependable communication pathways among vehicular nodes, contingent upon traffic density conditions, presents a growing challenge. As a result, the main contribution of this paper is to propose an efficient network optimization system involving a cluster-based network routing optimizer. The proposed method is a metaheuristic algorithm adapted as a clustering algorithm. For this purpose, the JAYA Algorithm (JAYA) was utilized and integrated with two clustering concepts extracted from K-means Clustering and Automatic Clustering, resulting in proposing JAYA Clustering Algorithm for IoV (JAYACIoV). Subsequently, the performance of the proposed algorithm was investigated utilizing 176 network testing scenarios, and extensive comparative evaluations were conducted against five algorithms from the literature. The results confirmed the superiority of the proposed system with a percentage of 64.82%, where the algorithms were ranked according to the percentage achievement of best results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimization is necessary for solving and improving the solution of various complex problems. Every meta-heuristic algorithm can have a weak point, and multiple mechanisms and methods can be used to overcome these weaknesses. Some algorithms perform well in the discovery phase and some algorithms perform better in the exploitation phase. Hybridizing algorithms can be a good solution to achieve a powerful algorithm, and hybridizing algorithms and mechanisms greedily lead to an increase in computational complexity and execution time. This paper presents a new and intelligent approach by hybridizing meta-heuristic algorithms and using different mechanisms simultaneously without significantly increasing the time complexity. For this purpose, salp swarm optimization (SSO) and the African vulture optimization algorithm (AVOA) have been hybridized to improve the optimization process of the modified choice function and learning automata mechanisms. In addition, two other improving mechanisms, named opposition-based learning (OBL) and β-hill climbing (BHC) technique, have been presented and integrated with the AVOA–SSA algorithm. Fifty-two standard benchmarks were used to test and evaluate the AVOA–SSA algorithm. Finally, an improved version of the extreme learning machine (ELM) classifier has been used with real stock market data for stock market prediction. The obtained results indicate the excellent and acceptable performance of the AVOA–SSA algorithm in 'solving optimization problems and have been able to achieve high-quality solutions. According to the results obtained from the AVOA–SSA algorithm, in comparison to global optimization problems, the AVOA–SSA algorithm has been able to obtain the best results in 21 functions out of 23 standard benchmarks. Also, against CEC2017 problems, it has been able to perform best in 26 out of 29 functions. In addition, the AVOA–SSA algorithm has been able to perform better than other compared algorithms in all five datasets evaluated in the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses this challenge and proposes a novel approach based on the modified cuckoo search and chaos theory. This article describes a novel approach for multilevel biomedical image segmentation based on the modified cuckoo search and chaos theory which is the major contribution to the literature. The modified cuckoo search approach helps to model the Lévy flight efficiently and the incorporation of the chaos theory helps to maintain the diversity in the population. The proposed approach helps to determine the optimal threshold values for a given number of thresholds. Four different objective functions are used to get the realistic segmented output which is essential in biomedical image analysis. Moreover, detailed analysis is also helpful in understanding the suitable objective function for biomedical image segmentation. This work also helps to choose suitable chaotic maps with different optimization algorithms. Hybridization of chaos theory and modified cuckoo search helps to overcome the local optima and to find the global optima cost-effectively. The chaos theory is incorporated in this proposed work to replace some solutions with some chaotic sequences to enhance the associated randomness with various phases which is beneficial to overcome the premature convergence and its related issues. The optimum setup is determined by investigating the effect of different chaotic maps along with some standard metaheuristic optimization approaches. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to evaluate and compare the proposed approach. The proposed algorithm is compared with four state-of-the-art approaches. The obtained results clearly show that the proposed approach outperforms some state-of-the-art approaches in terms of both quantitative results and segmented output. On average, the proposed approach can achieve 255.8331 MSE, 24.07047 PSNR, 291.6077 mean, 0.038869 SD, 0.688655 SSIM, and 16.05358 s execution time (all for nine clusters). It can be observed that the proposed approach can determine the optimal set of clusters comparatively faster on most occasions, especially for the higher number of clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method that employs an evolutionary normal distributions transform (NDT) for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) for autonomous mobile robots. An adaptive inertia weight and two genetic operators were employed in the Taguchi-based whale optimization algorithm (WOA) to improve the search diversity and avoid local optima. NDT was used to model the environment of differential-drive mobile robots and WOA was applied to optimize the scan matching for the robotic SLAM problem. The NDT-WOA determines the SLAM pose estimation using sensed data from the physical world. A nonholonomic mobile robot was steered to achieve the NDT-WOA SLAM task with the derived robot kinematics and actuator dynamics. The proposed method was implemented in a TurtleBot3 Burger robotic development kit, which includes a single-board computer and an OpenCR control board. The Robot Operating System (ROS) was utilized to implement the evolutionary NDT-WOA SLAM system due to its flexibility, open source, and client library. Simulation and comparisons were conducted to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed NDT-WOA SLAM method compared to other SLAM paradigms. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed evolutionary NDT-WOA SLAM for autonomous mobile robots. The results could have theoretical and practical significance for robotics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are widely employed in microscale applications to generate power from waste-heat energy emitted by nonrenewable energy sources. The energy extracted from TEG is dependent on the temperature gradient across the hot- and cold-ends along with the electrical load applied. Therefore, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control is strongly preferred to constantly track the optimal point of TEG under diverse operational conditions. In this study, a new MPPT-based metaheuristic optimizer so-called Honey badger algorithm (HBA) is implemented to maximize the energy efficiency of TEG systems. The proposed technique seeks to optimize the dynamic response and eradicate oscillations near MPP. Various dynamic operating conditions are used to investigate the reliability of the optimized HBA-based MPPT method. The obtained results are compared with other energy harvesting approaches including incremental conductance (INC), hybrid gray wolf optimizer-sine cosine algorithm (HGWOSCA), and marine predators algorithm (MPA). The major findings verify that the employed optimized HBA method achieved highest power tracking efficiency more than 99 % with smallest tracking time up to 120 ms and maintaining a steady-state output at the different studied scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The index tracking problem consists of constructing a portfolio that has the closest performance of a given index as possible, with fewer assets in its composition. When considering a large number of assets, including all of them on the solution may incur high transaction fees, harming the accumulated returns in the long term. The constraint that limits the portfolio size imposes a combinatorial nature on the problem and the computation of the optimal solution becomes infeasible as the universe of assets grows. To get around this issue, pure and hybrid metaheuristics have been proposed in the literature to achieve good solutions in practical time. Different from pure metaheuristics, hybrid metaheuristics do not need any constraint handling or solution repairing approaches since they often use general-purpose solvers to adjust portfolio weights. This work presents a comparison between pure and hybrid genetic algorithms, which is one of the most popular heuristics applied in the portfolio selection field. We considered linear and nonlinear index tracking models in the experiments, where the GA that obtained the best performance in a single period optimization strategy, was selected to backtest in a dynamic index tracking approach. The results showed that hybrid GAs can compute good or even better solutions than the CPLEX solver and pure GAs, in a shorter time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm is an excellent human-inspired optimization technique. This paper proposes an innovative improved version of TLBO—collectivism teaching–learning-based optimization (CTLBO) algorithm. This algorithm imitates group and individual behaviours in the reality of teaching and learning, applies group-individual multi-mode cooperation strategies to form new search mechanism. The CTLBO contains three phases, i.e. preparation phase, teaching and learning phases. In the preparation phase, there are two operators, i.e. teacher self-learning and teacher-learner interaction operators. In the teaching phase, class teaching and performance-based group teaching operators are implied. In the learning phase, neighbour learning, student self-learning and team-learning strategies are mixed together to form three operators. Two sets of experiments are conducted to test the performance of CTLBO. The first set of experiments validates the improvement effect of CTLBO by comparing it with the original TLBO and other authors' improved versions of TLBO. The second set of experiments illustrates the advantage of CTLBO by comparing it with other 17 meta-heuristic algorithms in solving 30 general benchmark functions and 15 CEC2015 test suit functions. The results of experiments show that CTLBO algorithm has significant improvement effect compared with TLBO. It is the most effective one amongst the improved versions of TLBO selected for comparison, and outperforms all other 17 meta-heuristic algorithms. The algorithm can significantly improve the convergence ability and the accuracy in solving different-scale complex optimization models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Whale Optimisation Algorithm (WOA) is a meta-heuristic model inspired by the hunting behaviours of humpback whales. Similar to many other meta-heuristic models, e.g., Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO), Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), and Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO), the WOA is susceptible to the issues of slow convergence and local optima. In this study, we address these short comings by first proposing an Enhanced WOA (EWOA) model for tackling single-objective optimisation. Specifically, EWOA integrates the WOA and Differential Evolution (DE). DE is a population-based algorithm that generates new candidate solutions by combining the existing ones, employing a simple yet robust formula. This amalgamation aids in generating diverse solutions during the exploration stage by utilising a non-linear coefficient vector, adaptive weight, and sub-population strategies. Furthermore, fast non-dominated sorting and crowding distance techniques from the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) are incorporated into EWOA, resulting in a multi-objective EWOA (MOEWOA) model. We evaluate both EWOA and MOEWOA with a broad spectrum of benchmark functions. The results from 51 single-objective optimisation problems indicate the usefulness of EWOA in terms of a fast convergence rate and with increased performance. On the other hand, MOEWOA demonstrates a better convergence rate and an effective balance between convergence and diversity in 12 multi-objective optimisation problems. In addition, MOEWOA successfully solves 21 complex multi-objective constrained mechanical design problems, outperforming other compared algorithms at the 95% confidence level. The empirical outcomes of our study indicate the potential of EWOA and MOEWOA for undertaking complex, real-world optimisation problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a nature-inspired metaheuristic method, the firefly algorithm (FA) arises more attentions in academic and engineering fields. However, too much attraction in FA's global attraction model leads to low computational efficiency, and the stochastic model with fixed randomization parameter is hard to balance the exploitation and exploration of the algorithm. Thus, FA still needs improvement to deal with complex engineering problems. An integrated firefly algorithm (IFA) that combines two novel attractive models with a new stochastic model is proposed to improve the standard FA. Firstly, the attractive model and stochastic model of standard FA are investigated through theoretical analysis and numerical experiments. And the factors that affect the computational efficiency and accuracy of FA are revealed. Based on the analysis results, two new fitness-based update formulas for attractiveness parameter are constructed to avoid the invalidation. The proposed virtual attractive model and global best attractive model can reduce the computation complexity and enhance the exploitation ability. Moreover, an adaptive strategy is presented for the stochastic model to achieve a better balance between exploitation and exploration. The nonlinearly decreased model for the update of parameter α can adjust the population diversity through the iteration and ensure the convergence. Additionally, an adaptive penalty function method is developed to handle the constraints effectively. Then, the initial parameters are tested, and the best initial parameters corresponding to the optimal performance of IFA are obtained. The proposed algorithm is evaluated by CEC2015 hybrid composition and a set of classical functions. The numerical experimental results show that the proposed techniques can enhance the solution accuracy and accelerate the convergence speed. Finally, IFA and other metaheuristic algorithms are applied to solve five engineering design optimization problems with mixed variables and multiple constraint conditions. The results indicate that IFA with adaptive penalty function needs fewer fitness evaluations and costs less computational time to obtain the optimal solutions. Furthermore, it exhibits better accuracy and robustness than other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aims to exploit a study on different benchmark test functions used to evaluate the performance of Meta-Heuristic (MH) optimization techniques. The performance of the MH optimization techniques is evaluated with the different sets of mathematical benchmark test functions and various real-world engineering design problems. These benchmark test functions can help to identify the strengths and weaknesses of newly proposed MH optimization techniques. This review paper presents 215 mathematical test functions, including mathematical equations, characteristics, search space and global minima of the objective function and 57 real-world engineering design problems, including mathematical equations, constraints, and boundary conditions of the objective functions carried out from the literature. The MATLAB code references for mathematical benchmark test functions and real-world design problems, including the Congress of Evolutionary Computation (CEC) and Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) test suite, are presented in this paper. Also, the winners of CEC are highlighted with their reference papers. This paper also comprehensively reviews the literature related to benchmark test functions and real-world engineering design challenges using a bibliometric approach. This bibliometric analysis aims to analyze the number of publications, prolific authors, academic institutions, and country contributions to assess the field's growth and development. This paper will inspire researchers to innovate effective approaches for handling inequality and equality constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the real market, the item's demand is substantially affected by the item's selling price and frequency of advertising. This study focuses on an optimal ordering policy followed by advertising, pricing, and preservation policies. The present study incorporates the quantity-dependent ordering cost and time-dependent holding cost. A partial prepayment scheme is developed for inventory purchase decisions. The spoilage impact can be effectively reduced by an optimal investment in refrigeration. The optimal decision policy has been proposed by using three metaheuristic algorithms, namely particle swarm optimization, real-coded genetic algorithm, and differential evolution algorithm. A comparison is made for these metaheuristic schemes based on the numerical illustrations. The parameter sensitivity is performed to get insights of the variability in the indicators of the inventory model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate photovoltaic (PV) models are essential to optimize grid operations and dynamic energy management. This article proposes parameter extraction of solar PV models using the Artificial Humming bird Optimization (AHO) algorithm. The AHO algorithm is inspired by hummingbird flight dynamics and mimics hummingbird foraging behavior. Three objective functions are developed to minimize the root mean square difference between the experimental and estimated currents. The first objective function is based on the conventional RMSE, while the second is developed using the Lambert W function, and the third is developed using the iterate Newton–Raphson approach. The AHO algorithm has been utilized to determine the parameters for a basic single-diode model (SDM), a double-diode model (DDM), and a photovoltaic module. The AHO algorithm exhibits an average RMSE value of 7.2985 × 10–04 for the SDM model and 7.4080 × 10–04 for the DDM model. The proposed AHO algorithm's performance is compared to the findings of other algorithms reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jaya is a metaheuristic algorithm that uses a pair of random internal parameters to adjust its exploration and exploitation search behaviors. Such a random setting can negatively affect the search performance of the algorithm by causing inappropriate search behavior in some iterations. To tackle this issue, the present study deals with developing a new fuzzy decision-making mechanism for dynamic adjusting the trade-off between the exploration and exploitation search behaviors of the Jaya method. The new algorithm is named Fuzzy Reinforced Jaya (FRJ) method. The search capability of the FRJ is evaluated in solving a suite of unconstrained mathematical benchmarks and constrained mechanical and structural optimization problems with buckling and natural frequency constraints. Also, the relevant decision variables are selected from both continuous and discrete domains. To provide a deeper insight into the effect of the defined auxiliary fuzzy module, the performance of the algorithm is evaluated and discussed using normalized diversity concept and behavioral diagrams. Also, employing different statistical analyses (e.g., Q–Q diagrams, Wilcoxson and Friedman tests), the significance of the outcomes is evaluated. Also, the numeric achievements are compared with six other well-stablished techniques. Attained outcomes indicate that the proposed FRJ, as a self-adaptive and parameter-free method, provides superior and promising results in the terms of stability, accuracy, and computational cost in solving mathematical and structural optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the shortcomings of Chimp optimization algorithm (ChOA), which is easy to fall into local optimal value and imbalance between global exploration ability and local exploitation ability. To improve ChOA from the perspective of multi-strategy mixing, MSChimp was proposed, and the algorithm was applied to global optimization and minimum spanning tree problems. The main research work of this paper is as follows: (1) In the initialization stage of ChOA, an opposition-based learning strategy was introduced to improve the population diversity; Sine Cosine Algorithm (SCA) was introduced in the exploitation process to improve the convergence speed and accuracy of the algorithm in the later stage, so as to balance the exploration and exploitation capabilities of the algorithm. (2) The improved algorithm was compared with different types of meta-heuristic algorithms in 20 benchmark functions and CEC 2019 test sets, and was used to solve the minimum spanning tree. The experimental results show that the improved ChOA has significantly improved the ability to find the optimal value, which verifies the effectiveness and feasibility of MSChimp. Compared with other algorithms, the algorithm proposed in this paper has strong competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent increase in photovoltaic (PV) power generation and its extensive use worldwide has led to the development of complex distributed generation systems, which has caused an increase in PV faults. These defects lead to considerable power losses, significantly impacting the reliability and performance of the PV system. Several approaches have been implemented, but an accurate solution has not been found. Therefore, an optimal Deep Belief with Buffalo Optimization (DB-BO) algorithm is applied in the grid-connected system for detecting faults and regulating its classes. Moreover, principal component analysis is used to analyze the power loss issues, and linear discriminant analysis is utilized to mitigate the voltage deviation issues. MATLAB or Simulink is used as the implementation process, and simulation outcomes are compared with recent conventional models. It has been revealed that the developed DB-BO algorithm has reduced the power loss to 3.4 mW. Also, total harmonic distortion (THD) is improved compared to the existing security methods. Thus, the efficiency of the model that was built has been proven by getting the best results in accuracy, total harmonic distortion (THD), and power loss. The computation time of the proposed model (0.238 s) is compared with metaheuristic algorithms such as CSE (0.315629 s) and GWA (3.636 s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feature selection is an important component of the machine learning domain, which selects the ideal subset of characteristics relative to the target data by omitting irrelevant data. For a given number of features, there are 2n possible feature subsets, making it challenging to select the optimal set of features from a dataset via conventional feature selection approaches. We opted to investigate glaucoma infection since the number of individuals with this disease is rising quickly around the world. The goal of this study is to use the feature set (features derived from fundus images of benchmark datasets) to classify images into two classes (infected and normal) and to select the fewest features (feature selection) to achieve the best performance on various efficiency measuring metrics. In light of this, the paper implements and recommends a metaheuristics-based technique for feature selection based on emperor penguin optimization, bacterial foraging optimization, and proposes their hybrid algorithm. From the retinal fundus benchmark images, a total of 36 features were extracted. The proposed technique for selecting features minimizes the number of features while improving classification accuracy. Six machine learning classifiers classify on the basis of a smaller subset of features provided by these three optimization techniques. In addition to the execution time, eight statistically based performance metrics are calculated. The hybrid optimization technique combined with random forest achieves the highest accuracy, up to 0.95410. Because the proposed medical decision support system is effective and ensures trustworthy decision-making for glaucoma screening, it might be utilized by medical practitioners as a second opinion tool, as well as assist overworked expert ophthalmologists and prevent individuals from losing their eyesight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a hybrid multi-objective meta-heuristics and possibilistic intuitionistic fuzzy c-means (PIFCM) algorithms for cluster analysis. The PIFCM algorithms combine Atanassov's intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) with possibilistic fuzzy c-means (PFCM) algorithms. In this study, three metaheuristic algorithms are used to improve the clustering results, specifically a genetic algorithm (GA), a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, and a gradient evolution (GE) algorithm. Therefore, three clustering algorithms are proposed, including multi-objective GA-based PIFCM (MOGA–PIFCM), multi-objective PSO-based PIFCM (MOPSO–PIFCM), and multi-objective GE-based PIFCM (MOGE–PIFCM). Their performance results are compared with those of other clustering algorithms, such as intuitionistic fuzzy c-means (IFCM) algorithm, possibilistic intuitionistic fuzzy c-means (PIFCM) algorithm, single-objective GA–PIFCM algorithm, single-objective PSO–PIFCM algorithm, and single-objective GE–PIFCM algorithm using 15 benchmark datasets. Adjusted Rand Index and accuracy measures are employed as performance indices for comparison. Experiment results shows that the MOGE–PIFCM obtains better solutions than the other clustering algorithms in terms of all performance validation indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an improved arithmetic optimization algorithm that incorporates hybrid elite pool strategies to address the limitations of the arithmetic optimization algorithm (AOA). In AOA, the linear mathematical optimization acceleration (MOA) function cannot balance global exploitation and local exploration well. Therefore, the accuracy and convergence speed of the algorithm cannot be guaranteed. To improve the performance of AOA, this paper reconstructed a nonlinear MOA function, which is expected to balance the exploitation and the exploration of AOA. Furthermore, four hybrid elite pool strategies are integrated to enhance the ability to escape local optima. The proposed algorithm inherits the fast convergence of AOA and develops the performance of escaping local optima. Numerical experiment results on benchmark functions and engineering problems show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other compared meta-heuristic algorithms in terms of convergence speed and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the Golf Sport Inspired Search (GSIS) algorithm as an evolutionary search method for numerical optimization. Each solution is generated with the aid of the step-length and search direction. The step-length is determined with the aid of the Tait's model of the trajectory of the golf ball, which is a physical model. The search direction is from the current position in the search space toward the position of a different individual or its reflected position. Such a direction determines the movement direction in the optimization process. A crossover operator is introduced to increase exploration at the starting and exploitation at the ending stages of the search. Performance of the GSIS is compared with many algorithms on 23 + 14 unconstrained classic functions, 29 functions of CEC 2017 benchmark suite and six constrained engineering design problems. Experiments indicate that with the aid of its cleverly designed operators, GSIS is able to produce promising results. Besides a cooperative game theoretic approach is introduced, which is able to measure the effectiveness of different operators in reducing the search cost. Such an approach can be used to measure the effectiveness of different operators that an evolutionary or swarm-intelligence algorithm owns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software quality is becoming a momentous challenge in software engineering processes, and software testing has a pivotal role in its measurements. Nature-inspired metaheuristic methods play an essential role in software testing, in which various studies have been conducted in this field; however, due to a lack of wide-ranging papers reviewing these methods, conducting a comprehensive systematic review to examine an array of crucial mechanisms in this field has become a necessity. This study aims to present a detailed analysis and taxonomically classifies the metaheuristic methods inspired by nature. This paper compromises a systematic literature review of 65 chosen studies published between 2015 and 2022. Genetic algorithm-based, hybrid, ant colony optimization-based, cuckoo search-based, firefly algorithm-based, artificial bee colony-based, and other metaheuristic methods constitute this systematic study's stratification. Evaluation methods, applied tools, merits, and demerits of each reviewed article are investigated. Additionally, future directions and open issues are addressed. This conducted paper not only expounds on software testing strengths, open issues, and future works, but also recognizes the quest for optimizing the insufficient metrics in software testing, such as mutation score, complexity, and scalability, which would be the propulsion of the testing process if consummated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production scheduling is a critical factor to enhancing productivity in manufacturing engineering and combinatorial optimization research. The complexity and dynamic nature of production systems necessitates innovative solutions. The Job Shop Flexible Programming Problem (FJSP) provides a realistic environment for production, where processing times are variable and uncertain, and multiple objectives need optimization. To solve the Multi-Objective Flexible Fuzzy Job Shop problem with partial flexibility (P-MOFfJSP), this paper proposes a hybrid metaheuristic approach that combines the Teaching–Learning-based Optimization (TLBO) algorithm with a Genetic Algorithm. The proposed algorithm of Adaptive TLBO (TLBO-A) uses two genetic operators (mutation and crossover) with an adaptive population reconfiguration strategy, ensuring solution space exploration and preventing premature convergence. We have evaluated the TLBO-A algorithm's performance on benchmark instances commonly used in programming problems with fuzzy variables. The experimental analysis indicates significant results, demonstrating that the adaptive strategy improves the search for suitable solutions. The proposed algorithm (TLBO-A) exhibits low variations (around 11%) compared to the best mono-objective heuristic for the fuzzy makespan problem, indicating its robustness. Moreover, compared with other heuristics like traditional TLBO, the variations decrease to around 1%. However, TLBO-A stands out as it aims to solve a multi-objective problem, improving the fuzzy makespan, and identifying good results on the Pareto frontier for the fuzzy average flow time, all within this low variation margin. Our contribution addresses the challenges of production scheduling in fuzzy time environments and proposes a practical hybrid metaheuristic approach. The TLBO-A algorithm shows promising results in solving the P-MOFfJSP, highlighting the potential of our proposed methodology for solving real-world production scheduling problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an improved bald eagle search optimization algorithm (IBES) is utilized to develop home energy management systems for smart homes. This research is crucial for energy field researchers who are interested in optimizing energy consumption. The primary objective is to optimally manage load demand, reduce the average peak ratio, lower electricity bills, and enhance user comfort. To accomplish this goal, the load conversion strategy is used to coordinate household appliances and manage the home power system effectively. This approach aims to minimize peak–average ratios and electricity costs while ensuring consumer convenience. To minimize electricity bills, the study schedules the consumer's daily activities based on actual time and next day's energy demand. Furthermore, a fitness criterion is used to balance the load between off-peak and on-peak hours. The scheduler is designed to achieve an optimal device on/off state that minimizes device waiting time by coordinating household appliances in real time. To address the background problem of real-time rescheduling, dynamic programming is employed. The study evaluates the modified algorithm's performance using three pricing strategies: critical peak pricing, real-time pricing, and time of use. The modified IBES technique is utilized to achieve the specified objectives of minimizing the electricity bill, reducing the peak–average ratio, and enhancing user convenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to address uncertainty in practical applications that the experimental observations and measurements have nature of inhomogeneity, randomness, and imprecision. This study employs a new method for regression model prediction in an uncertain environment and presents fuzzy parameter estimation of fuzzy regression models using triangular fuzzy numbers. These estimation methods are obtained by new learning algorithms in which linear programming is used. In this study, the new algorithm is a combination of a fuzzy rule-based system, on the basis of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and ant colony optimization ACOR. In the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system method, the output is crisp. In this research, a hybrid algorithm has been proposed to get the fuzzy output based on linear programming. Meta-heuristic algorithms have been used to reduce the error in the proposed methods based on PSO and ACOR. In addition, two simulation and two practical examples in the field of machining process are applied to indicate the performance of the proposed methods in dealing with crisp input and fuzzy output (CIFO) problems where the observed output variables have the nature of inhomogeneity, randomness, and imprecision. Finally, the results of the proposed algorithms are evaluated. Based on examples, the proposed method is more accurate than the LP and FWLP methods but is not more complicated than the FWLP in computations. Using paired t test, a significant difference was shown between the proposed methods and previous methods, such as LP and FWLP, but there was no significant difference between the two proposed methods ACOR and PSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the proliferation in the internet of things (IoT), a variety of delay sensitive applications have emerged over the past few years. Fog computing acts a viable computing paradigm for meeting the requirements of IoT applications. However, heterogeneous IoT tasks, resource constrained fog nodes makes task scheduling a challenging task. Efficient task scheduling reduces the computation cost, latency, energy and enhances the utilization of resources. In this paper, we propose the improved version of the meta-heuristic algorithm spider monkey optimization (SMO). We propose greedy task scheduling SMO (gTS-SMO) and semi-greedy task scheduling SMO (sgTS-SMO) for efficient task scheduling in fog computing environment. The main aim is minimize delay and energy consumption while considering the constraints of deadline and violation time. The system is evaluated based on the parameters of deadline violation time, makespan, energy consumption, total cost, and degree of imbalance. The results shows gTS-SMO reduces the violation time by 13.86%, 88.38% on comparison with sgTS-SMO and particle swarm optimization (PSO) respectively. The results also depicts the outperformance of gTS-SMO in terms of makespan and energy consumption. Makespan is reduced by 6.28%, and 57.75% and energy consumption by 5.74% and 53.65% on comparison with sgTS-SMO and PSO respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses an integrated material flow optimization problem of cross-docking satellites, in which the transportation problem, the truck-door assignment problem with material placement plans, and the two-dimensional truck loading problem are taken into account. The study aims to find the best distribution and operational plans for the cross-docking satellites to minimize the total transportation cost of the materials. To solve the considered problem, a hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) is developed, which integrates simulated annealing (SA) algorithm within a genetic algorithm (GA). In this way, a new individual with a low solution quality is rejected by using the stochastic solution acceptance feature of the SA. Moreover, the HGA is enhanced with an advanced two-dimensional loading-check procedure and a rule-based material placement procedure to obtain efficient solutions. The proposed loading-check procedure reduces the processing time of the HGA by avoiding duplicate examinations for the truck loading plans. Likewise, the rule-based material placement procedure prevents unnecessary searches for the assignment plans of the products in a temporary storage area. In computational studies, the performance of the HGA is tested on two different problem sets by comparing HGA with the SA and GA. Furthermore, the HGA is applied to a problem set that is formed by using real-life data of a logistics company. The computational results show that the HGA introduces effective solutions and outperforms both the SA and GA. In addition, the results of the real-life application denote that the HGA can be employed to find effective material flow plans in real situations of cross-docking operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, attention to the goals of cost, quality, time, and risk is essential in every project. In this regard, the beneficiaries of each project seek to reduce the cost, time, and risk and increase the quality of the project simultaneously. As cost, risk, time, and quality are critical factors in project management, this study primarily focused on examining the trade-offs among these criteria to determine how increased costs and decreased risks can lead to reduced project implementation time and improved quality. To this end, in this research, a mathematical programming approach and metaheuristic algorithms have been suggested for PERT networks. The model is developed through a simulation process, and then the values of decision and response variables are obtained in each implementation. Finally, an artificial neural network model is designed, and several sample problems are generated on small, medium, and large scales to solve the model. This study has several contributions, including the development of a mathematical programming model for PERT networks that considers the cost–risk–time–quality trade-off. Additionally, an artificial neural network model is proposed for solving problems of various sizes. At the same time, NSGA-II and MOPSO algorithms are utilized to handle NP-hard problems in the mathematical programming of PERT networks. Furthermore, the model considers multi-dimensional activities, with cost, quality, risk, and time as the four objective functions in the PERT network. Finally, AHP–TOPSIS methods are used to evaluate the effectiveness of NSGA-II and MOPSO algorithms. The findings illustrated that the NSGA-II algorithm performed better than the MOPSO algorithm in all three designed problems. The proposed model became practical and closer to reality than the previous models by eliminating unrealistic assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, image thresholding methods based on various entropy functions have been found popularity. Nonetheless, entropic-based methods depend on the spatial distribution of the grey level values in an image. Hence, the accuracy of these methods is limited due to the non-uniform distribution of the grey values. Further, the analysis of the COVID-19 X-ray images is evolved as an important area of research. Therefore, it is needed to develop an efficient method for the segmentation of the COVID-19 X-ray images. To address these issues, an efficient non-entropy-based thresholding method is suggested. A novel fitness function in terms of the segmentation score (SS) is introduced, which is used to reduce the segmentation error. A soft computing approach is suggested. An efficient optimizer using the chance-based birds' intelligence is introduced to maximize the fitness values. The new optimizer is validated utilizing the benchmark test functions. The statistical parameters reveal that the suggested optimizer is efficient. It shows a quite significant improvement over its counterparts—optimization based on seagull/cuckoo birds. Precisely, the paper includes three novel contributions—(i) fitness function, (ii) chance-based birds' intelligence for optimization, (iii) multiclass segmentation. The COVID-19 X-ray images are taken from the Kaggle Radiography database, to the experiment. Its results are compared with three different state-of-the-art entropy-based techniques—Tsallis, Kapur's, and Masi. For providing a statistical analysis, Friedman's mean rank test is conducted and our method Ranked one. Its superiority is claimed in terms of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Feature Similarity Index (FSIM) and Structure Similarity Index (SSIM). On the whole, an improvement of about 11% in PSNR values is achieved using the proposed method. This method would be helpful for medical image analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the resource-constrained project scheduling problem and its variants have attracted wide attention from the perspective of theory and practice. In many projects, the amounts of the work content for the activities are specified, while the activities are executed in different modes of discrete duration and resource consumption per time. This paper focuses on this specific generalization of the resource-constrained project scheduling problem, known as the discrete time/resource trade-off problem (DTRTP). An efficient mathematical model for the DTRTP with renewable resource types is presented. Since this problem is NP-hard, a hybrid heuristic/meta-heuristic algorithm is proposed to solve the deterministic model in large sizes. Then, a critical chain project management approach is employed to handle the uncertainty of activities' work contents. Finally, several numerical examples based on the previous studies and generated examples are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed procedure. The proposed hybrid algorithm for deterministic cases is statistically compared with an existing exact optimization tool. The simulation-based statistical analyses showed that the proposed hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm could find global optimums for small-sized cases in shorter run times. While the exact solver cannot solve medium- and large-sized problems, the proposed nested algorithm reaches high-quality local solutions in suitable run times. Also, the simulations indicated that the proposed project scheduling can face uncertainty, at least in 77% of the cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problems of insufficient optimization accuracy, slow convergence speed and easy to fall into local optimum in the whale optimization algorithm, this paper proposes a whale optimization algorithm with improved neighborhood search strategy. First, the algorithm generates a more evenly distributed and higher-quality initial population through an initialization strategy based on the opposite-based learning of pinhole imaging to expand the early search space of the algorithm. Secondly, it adopts improved neighborhood search strategy based on similarity and uses Mahalanobis distance and the law of universal gravitation to calculate and rank the similarity of solutions. At the same time, the algorithm counts the times of convergence oscillation. According to the algorithm iteration process, it selects the corresponding similarity ranking solution as the object to update the position and performs the second position update for the solution with most times of oscillation, so as to implement the space exploration of the target population to speed up the convergence of the algorithm and enhance the ability to jump out of the local optimum. Finally, an adaptive step size adjustment strategy is introduced, and the population convergence is adjusted using adaptive step size parameters according to the algorithm optimization process to improve the algorithm's global search performance and avoid premature convergence of the algorithm. The improved algorithm proposed in this paper is analyzed and compared with the sine–cosine optimization algorithm, artificial bee colony algorithm and three improved whale algorithms on a set of 20 test functions in low-dimensional and high-dimensional, respectively, and perform ANOVA and T-test on the simulation results. The results show that the improved algorithm proposed in this paper effectively improves the convergence accuracy and convergence speed. In addition, the improved optimization algorithm proposed in this paper is applied to the engineering optimization design. The solutions show that the improved algorithm can obtain the optimal value with higher accuracy and more stability than other algorithms, and can effectively solve the engineering design problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an effective approach for solving economic load dispatch problems contemplating the scheduling a set of thermal generating units to produce a specific power at low consumption costs. These problems can be thought of as nonlinear, non-convex, and highly constrained optimization problems with a large number of local minima. To cope with the above issues in solving such problems, a new meta-heuristic named capuchin search algorithm was adopted. To boost the search performance of this algorithm as well as to mitigate its early convergence and regression to the local optimum, it was hybridized with another algorithm and improved using several positive amendments. First, a memory element was added to this algorithm to ameliorate its position and velocity update mechanisms in order to exploit the most encouraging candidate solutions. Second, two adaptive parametric functions were used to manage the exploration and exploitation features of this algorithm and balance them appropriately. Finally, the hybridization was made using the gradient-based optimizer to strengthen the intensification ability of this algorithm and balance its searching ability to fulfill sensible search performance. The proficiency of the proposed algorithm was divulged by assessing it on computationally difficult economic load dispatch problems under 6 different tests with a generator of 3, 13, 40, 80, and 140 units, each with different constraints and load conditions. The proposed algorithm provided the best performance among many other competitors. Its superiority and practicality were revealed by obtaining optimal solutions for large-scale test cases such as 40-unit and 140-unit test systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve optimization problems, this paper introduces a new metaheuristic algorithm called the Numeric Crunch Algorithm (NCA), which employs the distribution behaviour of the population members and a novel hyperbolic acceleration function for convergence. Each generation's search space exploration and exploitation are ensured by the population's distribution behaviour around its members and their adaptively diversified boundaries, respectively. The convergence of the search solutions in the NCA was also accelerated by the random, adaptive parameters and hyperbolic function. A set of 68 test benchmark functions with (30, 100, 500, and 1000) dimensions was used to examine the NCA's effectiveness in terms of exploration, exploitation, local optimality avoidance, population fitness enhancement, and convergence rate. Firstly, the proposed NCA's behaviour is examined using a collection of 23 standard well-known benchmark functions, including unimodal, multimodal, and fixed-dimensional functions. Secondly, the proposed NCA's superiority is examined using the IEEE CEC-2015 and IEEE CEC-2017 benchmark suites. In addition to qualitatively examine NCA's superiority over other metaheuristics, Friedman and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests are performed. In terms of performance metrics, NCA ranked first. For application perspective, the NCA is tested on eight real-world constrained and unconstrained engineering design problems from IEEE CEC-2020 real-world optimization benchmark suits. The NCA algorithm's performance on benchmark functions and engineering design problems indicates that it can handle constrained and uncertain search spaces in real-world scenarios. The source code of the NCA algorithm is publicly available at https://github.com/Shivankur07/Numeric-Crunch-Algorithm.git. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the problem of extensive energy consumption and carbon emission in manufacturing companies has been highlighted. Efficient scheduling strategies can help governments and production managers to control the raised environmental concerns resulting from this problem. The goal of this research is to address a green scheduling problem for unrelated parallel batch processes, as a group of highly energy-intensive machines, by considering the emission reduction regulation for the first time. To this aim, two new cases of unrelated parallel batch processing machine scheduling problems under the tax and cap-and-trade policies are defined. The problems are formulated using a mixed-integer linear mathematical model, where the goal is to minimize the makespan and total cost of the production system simultaneously. The total cost objective function includes the earliness and tardiness penalties, machine purchasing costs, and carbon emission costs. Also, several other features, such as setup time, release time, and the machines' purchasing decisions, are considered to provide a more realistic framework. As a solution approach, an interactive fuzzy programming method is presented to establish the single-objective counterpart of the models. Moreover, regarding the complexity of the problem, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) and multiobjective gray wolf optimizer (MOGWO) algorithms are utilized as two multiobjective metaheuristics algorithms for large-size instances, for which the parameters are calibrated using the Taguchi design of experiments. Extensive analyses are established by solving several numerical instances. The outputs prove the superiority of the presented framework compared to the traditional models. The results also demonstrate that the newly developed cases can reduce the total cost of the production system by about 5.87 and 0.56% under the tax and cap-and-trade regulations, respectively. Besides, the statistical analysis of the results shows that NSGA-II outperforms the MOGWO algorithm for both cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the optimization process, a large number of data are generated through the search. Machine learning techniques and algorithms can be used to handle the generated data to contribute to the optimization process. The use of machine learning enhancing metaheuristics applied to optimization problems has been drawing attention due to their capacity to add domain knowledge during the search process. This knowledge can accelerate metaheuristics and lead to better and promising solutions. This work provides a systematic literature review of machine learning enhancing metaheuristics and summarizes the current state of the classification of the research field, main techniques and machine learning models, validations strategies, and real-world optimization problems that the approach was applied. Our keyword search found 1.960 papers, published in the last 10 years. After considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria and performing backward snowballing procedure, we have analyzed 111 primary studies. The results show the predominance of the use of surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms (SAEAs) for improving the efficiency of the optimization, and the use of estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) to increase the effectiveness of the optimization. The objective function value is the mostly applied evaluating criteria to validate the algorithm with other methods. The developed techniques of the studies found are applied in diverse real-world applications such as developing machine learning models, physics simulations with expensive function evaluation, and the variants of the classical job shop scheduling problem. We also discuss trends and opportunities of the research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimization plays a crucial role in the elevator group control system (EGCS) since various unpredictable factors, such as future traffic demand of each floor, passengers' random destinations, and indiscriminate starting-stopping of elevators, are incorporated in scheduling a group of elevators. When solving the optimization problem of EGCS, a number of dynamic performance indices, including average waiting time, average journey time, energy consumption, etc., have to be taken into account. Until now, numerous optimization approaches have been utilized to solve the car-dispatching problem of vertical transportation. Among those methods, in this study, the authors concentrate on various metaheuristic techniques that were implemented to optimize the metrics of EGCS. While establishing a metaheuristic approach, all the previous authors recognized various factors and limitations, which ought to analyze to develop a new metaheuristic-based EGCS. Owing to this, EGCS implemented via metaheuristic techniques is summarized in this review study, together with the underlying contributions, fitness functions, computational time, and limitations. What is more, performance comparisons of different previously implemented metaheuristic approaches are depicted in this study. This research will not only assist to figure out optimal elevator group optimization algorithms, but also will shrink the technological gap by outlining a number of potential future research lines and methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-heuristics have been successfully applied to many complex optimization problems. One of the main reasons for its success is its ability to handle non-convex, nonlinear, multimodal, multi-variable, and multi-objective problems with easy implementation. However, the quality of the response of these algorithms to an optimization problem is highly susceptible to the control parameters, and few works aim to tune them or find tools that can improve the algorithms. The literature is rich in proposals for new algorithms, but not for improving existing ones. This paper presents different strategies for tuning and accelerating meta-heuristics using the first hybrid algorithm in the literature. The Lichtenberg algorithm is inspired by lightning and Lichtenberg figures and has been increasingly successfully applied to various optimization problems. However, a study of its best parameters has never been presented until now. After a discussion of the best tuning tools, its tuning parameters are performed using response surface methodology. Then, 14 versions are studied through 10 test functions using chaos theory and Lévy flights scenarios. After 13,500 simulations, the chaotic Lichtenberg algorithm equipped with the piecewise function and tuned parameters proved the best version with only 16% similarity to the original algorithm. Then, it was compared to the genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, gray wolf optimizer, salp swarm optimization, whale optimization algorithm, and dragonfly algorithm. The proposed algorithm had both the best average accuracy, lower computational cost, and the smallest standard deviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research study proposes a Q-learning-based metaheuristic algorithm framework for thermal design optimization of a shell-and-tube evaporator operating with different refrigerant mixtures, which is a highly complex real-world design problem and has not been investigated yet, in previous literature approaches before. The proposed method, called QL-HEUR, uses Q-learning as a high-level heuristic to iteratively guide the competitive recently emerged low-level metaheuristic algorithms. QL-HEUR is applied to 32 unconstrained optimization benchmark functions, and results are evaluated in statistical analysis. Moreover, three multidimensional constrained optimization problems will be solved. Respective solutions unravel that QL-HEUR is very effective in finding optimum solutions to constrained and unconstrained optimization problems. QL-HEUR is employed on the design optimization of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger running with different mixture pairs as a challenging real-world benchmark case. For the design case in which R134a–R1234yf (0.8:02) mixture is considered, 8.71% of the total cost is saved compared to the preliminary design of a heat exchanger operated with pure R1234yf refrigerant. For the second design case, the application of QL-HEUR results in a decrease of 8.93% for refrigerant composition R32–R134a (0.6:0.4) in comparison with the configuration running with pure R134a. It is also seen that the heat exchanger configuration running with pure R32 refrigerant yields the lowest total cost compared to the cases accomplished by varying mixture ratios of R290 and R32. It can be concluded that the optimum configuration of the heat exchanger operated with a refrigerant mixture can be conveniently employed for minimum total cost and global warming potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the applicability of the metaheuristic algorithm for calculating the building period. Firefly algorithm (FA) employing the feed-forward (FF) model is applied to an existing period dataset of several wood buildings, whose motions were recorded at ambient conditions. The composition of the considered artificial neural network (ANN) is optimized employing the firefly algorithm, and the fixed weights are determined with the least error for the model. The model's precision is evaluated by comparing the results with the multiple linear regression (MLR) model, the ANN model combined with the genetic algorithm (GA-ANN), particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO-ANN), and the models existing in building code. The results are also compared with the models presented in the literature for the period estimate required for the seismic design of wood buildings. The paper concludes that the proposed informational model can predict the fundamental period of light-frame wood buildings more accurately than the other available models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the users' mobility, new online applications, as well as low processing power and limited energy of smart devices, traditional cloud computing models could not provide new required services. Cloud service providers improve the quality of their services by moving some servers to the edge of the network and closer to mobile users. Considering the moving nature of users and the heterogeneous service demands in different areas, the optimal placement of servers plays an important role in increasing the quality of service provided to users. However, because of the large number of servers, finding the optimal location of these resources is a serious challenge. In the proposed method of this paper (MES-WG), in the first step, the geographical area of server deployment is divided into smaller sub-regions to reduce the complexity of the problem. Then, by using the WOA algorithm the search agent finds the optimal location of the servers. In the next step, a neural network is used for the local placement of all servers in each area. Finally, game theory is deployed for the convergence of resource placement in all sub-regions. The experimental results show that the proposed method reduces the network latency by 33.5% and also improves the load balance on servers by 28.2%, compared to some of the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-parameter single objective optimization has been studied for decades. In recent, a new setting is applied in this field based on the consideration that solving difficulty scales exponentially with the increase in dimensionality. Under the new setting, differential evolution (DE) still outstands in performance as before. Meanwhile, a new type of population-based metaheuristic—gaining–sharing knowledge-based algorithm, becomes a dark horse. Furthermore, ensemble of the above two types of algorithm is proposed in the literature. Although such ensemble shows good performance, provided that a more reasonable scheme is used for the communication between the constituent algorithms, better ensemble can be obtained. We believe that the new scheme should be with adaptiveness. In this paper, we propose an adaptive scheme for the communication. According to the scheme, individuals chosen based on fitness and lifetime are exchanged. In fact, in the field of DE, it is rare to consider lifetime of individual. However, lifetime is no less important than fitness in our scheme. In our experiment, our ensemble is compared with seven state-of-the-art algorithms. According to experimental results, our ensemble is comparable to one of the peers and better than the other ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For multi-threshold segmentation of grayscale and color images, the computational complexity increases exponentially with the increase of the number of threshold levels. In this paper, we propose a new method to segment grayscale and color images with Kapur entropy as the objective function. The method introduces four strategies such as horizontal crossover and vertical crossover into the bald eagle search optimization algorithm, forming an advanced bald eagle search optimization algorithm (ABES). In the benchmark function comparison experiments at IEEE CEC 2017, ABES was compared with classical and novel algorithms, and the results proved to have stronger convergence speed, convergence accuracy, and stability than other algorithms. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in multi-thresholding segmentation of grayscale and color images, it is applied to low-level and high-level image multi-thresholding experiments, and the experimental results show that ABES outperforms other algorithms in the evaluation of PSNR, MSSIM, and FSIM, and ABES is a high-quality image segmentation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles for improved load frequency control mechanism of interconnected power system. This research also looks at the impact of communication latency on system stability and sustainability. The mathematical modelling and analysis of the studied proposed system, a two-area interconnected hybrid power system, includes a thermal plant, hydro plant, and gas plant in each area. Moreover, both control areas also incorporate sporadic solar and wind power plants as well as electric vehicles for case study purposes. A novel cascade fractional-order integral-derivative and tilt controller has been designed for the analysed system. A new modified Quasi-Opposition Reptile Search Algorithm (QORSA) is also proposed to optimise the different parameters of controller. To demonstrate its superiority, the QORSA is compared with some recent prominent meta-heuristic algorithms. Furthermore, the effectiveness and efficacy of the proposed control approach has been analysed in comparison with existing controllers as well as some other research work under diverse conditions like step and random disturbances. The comprehensive results studies show the overall better and improved dynamic performance analysis for anticipated hybrid power system. Finally, the proposed methodology is validated through real-time experimental analysis by means of Opal-RT platform for its practical feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well recognized that human societies and their problem-solving capabilities have evolved much faster than biological evolution. The inspiration from human behaviors, knowledge exchange, and transformation has given rise to a new evolutionary computation paradigm. Multiple research endeavors have been reported in the literature inspired by the diverse aspects of human societies with corresponding terminologies to describe the algorithm. These endeavors have resulted in piles of algorithms, worded differently but with more or less similar underlying mechanisms causing immense confusion for a new reader. This paper presents a generalized framework for these socio-inspired evolutionary algorithms (SIEAs) or socio-inspired meta-heuristic algorithms. A survey of various SIEAs is provided to highlight the working of these algorithms on a common framework, their variations and improved versions proposed in the literature, and their applications in various fields of search and optimization. The algorithmic description and the comparison of each SIEA with the general framework enable a clearer understanding of the similarities and differences between these methodologies. Efforts have been made to provide an extensive list of references with due context. This paper could become an excellent reference as a starting point for anyone interested in this fascinating field of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we intend to propose multiple hybrid algorithms with the idea of giving a choice to the particles of a swarm to update their position for the next generation. To implement this concept, Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA), Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO), Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO), and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) have been utilized. Exhaustive possible combinations of these algorithms are developed and benchmarked against the base algorithms. These hybrid algorithms have been validated on twenty-four well-known unimodal and multimodal benchmarks functions, and detailed analysis with varying dimensions and population size is discussed for the same. Further, the efficacy of these algorithms has been tested on short-term electricity load and price forecasting applications. For this purpose, the algorithms have been combined with Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to evaluate their performance on the ISO New Pool England dataset. The results demonstrate that hybrid optimization algorithms perform superior to their base algorithms in most test cases. Furthermore, the results show that the performance of CSA-GWO is significantly better than other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disasters are large-scale disruptions for the society that cause damage to human lives, infrastructure, and the ecosystem. Multiple emergencies emerge, which need to be handled and resolved efficiently to minimize the impact of the disaster. Therefore, the need for an effective and efficient emergency response system that optimally allocates resources and emergency services is essential. This paper proposes a methodology to model this situation as an optimization problem that can be solved using meta-heuristic algorithms. In the proposed model, four meta-heuristics, namely Particle Swarm Optimization, Cuckoo Search, Grey Wolf Optimizer, and iLSHADE-RSP algorithm, have been used to allocate resources and services. A benchmark dataset consisting of 16 situations is prepared to analyze the proposed model. The conducted empirical analysis demonstrates the applicability of the meta-heuristic algorithms in locating near-optimum solutions for the considered situations. The convergence analysis and statistical tests have been performed to test the validity and significance of the conducted experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrast enhancement is an important pre-processing task for several image and video processing applications. The objective of a contrast enhancement method is to improve the quality of the visual information contained in the images for further processing. Due to the enormous challenges, it is still considered as an open research problem. Several approaches have been proposed in the literature based on spatial and fr uency domain techniques. Among them, the Incomplete Beta Function (IBF) is a popular scheme used for image contrast enhancement. In the IBF based image contrast enhancement technique, quality of an image is improved by two controlling parameters. Under such conditions, these parameters need to be tuned for obtaining better outcomes. In this paper, a new gray-scale contrast enhancement algorithm is introduced where, instead of tuning the controlling parameters of IBF experimentally, their near-optimal values are calculated with the help of a recently published meta-heuristic algorithm called Artificial Electric Field Algorithm (AEFA). The proposed method has been compared with many state-of-the-art techniques in terms of some standard metrics considering three different datasets, namely Kodak, MIT-Adobe FiveK and USC-SIPI. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed AEFA based image enhancement technique increases the overall image contrast and enriches the information present in the image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of data generated by several applications like engineering, biotechnology, energy, and others has become a crucial challenge in the high dimensional data mining. The large amounts of data, especially those with high dimensions, may contain many irrelevant, redundant, or noisy features, which may negatively affect the accuracy and efficiency of the industrial data mining process. Recently, several meta-heuristic optimization algorithms have been utilized to evolve feature selection techniques for dealing with the vast dimensionality problem. Despite optimization algorithms' ability to find the near-optimal feature subset of the search space, they still face some global optimization challenges. This paper proposes an improved version of the sooty tern optimization (ST) algorithm, namely the ST-AL method, to improve the search performance for high-dimensional industrial optimization problems. ST-AL method is developed by boosting the performance of STOA by applying four strategies. The first strategy is the use of a control randomization parameters that ensure the balance between the exploration–exploitation stages during the search process; moreover, it avoids falling into local optimums. The second strategy entails the creation of a new exploration phase based on the Ant lion (AL) algorithm. The third strategy is improving the STOA exploitation phase by modifying the main equation of position updating. Finally, the greedy selection is used to ignore the poor generated population and keeps it from diverging from the existing promising regions. To evaluate the performance of the proposed ST-AL algorithm, it has been employed as a global optimization method to discover the optimal value of ten CEC2020 benchmark functions. Also, it has been applied as a feature selection approach on 16 benchmark datasets in the UCI repository and compared with seven well-known optimization feature selection methods. The experimental results reveal the superiority of the proposed algorithm in avoiding local minima and increasing the convergence rate. The experimental result are compared with state-of-the-art algorithms, i.e., ALO, STOA, PSO, GWO, HHO, MFO, and MPA and found that the mean accuracy achieved is in range 0.94–1.00. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaheuristic intelligent optimization algorithm is an effective method to settle high-dimensional nonlinear complicated optimization problems. Slime mould algorithm is a novel intelligent optimization algorithm proposed in 2020. However, the basic slime mould algorithm still has shortcomings, such as slow convergence rate, easy falling into local extremum, and imbalanced exploration and exploitation capabilities. To further enhance the optimization capability and expand the application scope of the slime mould algorithm, a slime mould algorithm based on the mechanism of multi-strategy information interaction and optimally oriented initialization (MSII-SMA) is proposed. Three improved mechanisms are introduced into the algorithm and the time complexity of MSII-SMA is analyzed. To verify the optimization effect, MSII-SMA and the other 5 typical comparison algorithms are applied to settle the CEC2015 test function set. The analysis of the optimization accuracy, convergence curve, Friedman test, boxplot and scalability test shows that the optimization ability, convergence rate, stability and scalability of MSII-SMA are evidently better than the comparison algorithm. Finally, MSII-SMA and other comparison algorithms are used to settle engineering design optimization problems with different complexity. The experimental results verify the universality, reliability and preponderance of MSII-SMA in dealing with engineering design constraint optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test three meta-heuristic algorithms to solve large size multi-objective supply chain network design problems. The algorithms are based on tabu search, genetic algorithm, and simulated annealing to find near-optimal global solutions. The three algorithms are designed, coded, and tested, and their parameters are fine tuned. The exact ε-constraint algorithm embedded in the General Algebraic Modeling System is used to validate the results of the three algorithms. The algorithms are compared using a typical multi-objective supply chain model utilizing several performance measures. The measures include the mean ideal distance, diversification metric, and percent of domination, inverted generational distance, and computation time. The results show that the tabu search algorithm outperformed the other two algorithms in terms of the percent of domination and computation time. On the other hand, the simulated annealing solutions are the best in terms of their diversity. The work in this paper is expected to help managers to solve large-scale supply chain problems that arise in oil and gas, petrochemical, and food supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feature selection, widely used in data preprocessing, is a challenging problem as it involves hard combinatorial optimization. So far some meta-heuristic algorithms have shown effectiveness in solving hard combinatorial optimization problems. As the arithmetic optimization algorithm only performs well in dealing with continuous optimization problems, multiple binary arithmetic optimization algorithms (BAOAs) utilizing different strategies are proposed to perform feature selection. First, six algorithms are formed based on six different transfer functions by converting the continuous search space to the discrete search space. Second, in order to enhance the speed of searching and the ability of escaping from the local optima, six other algorithms are further developed by integrating the transfer functions and Lévy flight. Based on 20 common University of California Irvine (UCI) datasets, the performance of our proposed algorithms in feature selection is evaluated, and the results demonstrate that BAOA_S1LF is the most superior among all the proposed algorithms. Moreover, the performance of BAOA_S1LF is compared with other meta-heuristic algorithms on 26 UCI datasets, and the corresponding results show the superiority of BAOA_S1LF in feature selection. Source codes of BAOA_S1LF are publicly available at: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/124545-binary-arithmetic-optimization-algorithm [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating market demand for a product is essential to business growth; yet, it is exceedingly difficult. This article considers various demand patterns for a single product in a three-echelon supply chain where a single supplier, a single manufacturer and a single retailer are involved. A robust inspection process is considered at the manufacturer's end to deliver a high-quality product to the retailer. The backorder strategy is incorporated to enhance the company's trust and reputation among consumers. The major idea of this research is to analyze the nature of the product's demand in three distinct situations, as well as the benefits of implementing the backorder technique. Three cases are analyzed on the basis of different demand patterns, in which the demand rate is assumed to be constant (i.e., deterministic), price-dependent and fuzzy in the first, second and third cases, respectively. To verify this model, numerical examples are tested independently with identical information for each case and owing to the complexity of the objective function; a genetic algorithm is employed to obtain the best solution. Finally, sensitivity analysis, managerial insights and conclusions, including the future directions, are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]